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#haikommute: when it is open

When it is open
Your umbrella is a spear
Watch where you point it…

August 21, 2015
You’re Never Weird on the Internet (almost) (2015)

You’re Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not a lot of celebrities can get me to read a memoir, but I absolutely heart Felicia Day. No, not in a geeky infatuation way (well, maybe a little), but because I just respect and admire her as an outspoken advocate of geek & female empowerment. She is exactly the type of role model I am thrilled to see my tween daughter look up to, and I thank Ms. Day for that.

So I’m laying out the fact that I’m totally biased and partial and this is not going to be a very critical review. The simple fact is that this is the type of book I would have bought even if I didn’t have any interest in reading it; both to support the author and also to have it available for my kid to pick up.

Honestly, there really isn’t much of anything to be critical about anyway. You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is exactly what it looks like – a memoir from a famous person right in the middle of her success. It reads very much like most other modern mid-career memoirs. Like I noted in my reviews of Questlove’s Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove & Tina Fey’s Bossypants books, the historical part is very interesting, the more current topics less so. Reading about events that more or less just happened holds limited interest with me. Others clearly feel differently, and that’s great.

Day’s writing is very entertaining – it’s pretty much exactly like listening to her talk. I planned on getting the audio version, which she narrates, but frankly the writing is so in character that I sort of heard her reading it in my head as I read anyway. Her unique voice (written or otherwise) made the stories fun and light, and I finished this within a day or two of release (even if the review is only coming now).

I will say that I had rather hoped the book would be a little more geek manifesto than memoir, but I have only myself to blame for that, as it clearly says memoir on the cover. I suppose that knowing how great she is at supporting self-worth and empowerment, and how much we need those types of books for girls, I expected a book that she wasn’t actually writing. I’d love to see her pen something a la Chris Brogan’s It’s Not About the Tights: An Owners Manual on Bravery or Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. Maybe for your next book, Felicia?

The book contains brave and honest depiction of the author’s struggles with depression and anxiety, and would be recommendation worthy on that basis alone. I’m glad Day was willing to bare such personal information and am certain this will be very empowering and helpful to many.

You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is a quick, fun read that will be enjoyable to most anyone, particularly fans. If it isn’t the inspirational geek pride mission statement that I hoped it would be, that’s no slight; it’s an entertaining memoir that certainly celebrates geek pride and is a great insight into how a unique celebrity essentially paved her own road to success. The behind the scenes insights on the creation of The Guild and the message of the reader’s ability to do the same are worth the price of admission. Recommended…

[schema type=”book” url=”http://feliciadaybook.com/” name=”You’re Never Weird on the Internet (almost)” description=”When Felicia Day was a girl, all she wanted was to connect with other kids (desperately). Growing up in the Deep South, where she was “home-schooled for hippie reasons,” she looked online to find her tribe. The internet was in its infancy and she became an early adopter at every stage of its growth—finding joy and unlikely friendships in the emerging digital world. Her relative isolation meant that she could pursue passions like gaming, calculus, and 1930’s detective novels without shame. Because she had no idea how “uncool” she really was. But if it hadn’t been for her strange background—the awkwardness continued when she started college at sixteen, with Mom driving her to campus every day—she might never have had the naive confidence to forge her own path. Like when she graduated as valedictorian with a math degree and then headed to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting despite having zero contacts. Or when she tired of being typecast as the crazy cat-lady secretary and decided to create her own web series before people in show business understood that online video could be more than just cats chasing laser pointers. Felicia’s rags-to-riches rise to internet fame launched her career as one of the most influential creators in new media. Now Felicia’s world is filled with creativity, video games, and a dash of feminist activism—just like her memoir. Showcasing Felicia’s hilarious and unique voice, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is proof that everyone should celebrate what makes them different and be brave enough to share it with the world, because anything is possible now—even for a digital misfit.” author=”Felicia Day” publisher=”Touchstone” pubdate=”2015-08-11″ isbn=”1476785651″ ebook=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

August 20, 2015

Mr. Holmes (2015)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Unsurprisingly brilliant performance by the always dependable Ian McKellen as the worlds first private consulting detective, now retired…

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Mr. Holmes:

Sherlock Holmes may well be the single most popular literary character ever created, appearing not only in the four novels and fifty-six stories of creator Arthur Conan Doyle, but also more spinoff novels, film and television adaptations than can be readily calculated. There seems to be an insatiable appetite for the consulting detective. By now we should have run out of things to say about the fellow, yet he remains an inexhaustible inspiration for so many creators, all who want to put their own stamp on the deerstalker-hatted cocaine addict from Baker Street.

The film Mr. Holmes opens in 1947, as does the novel the film is based on, 2005’s A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin. The story finds the titular character (Ian McKellen) long-retired from his detective practice and living a semi-solitary existence in Sussex, filling his days pursuing his love of beekeeping. Other than his beloved bees, the only constant presence in his life is his housekeeper Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney) and her curious son Roger (Milo Parker).

As the film opens, Holmes is returning from post-war Japan, where he has been searching for the Prickly Ash plant, speculated to be helpful in preventing senility. In a cruel twist of fate, the detective famed for his steel-trap mind is seeing his most powerful gift fade away with the slow degeneration of his memory. The story follows 93-year-old Sherlock as he tries desperately to recall the circumstances of his final case. Holmes has deduced that something momentous must have occurred in 1898, causing him to give up his practice, but the details are locked in his no longer trustworthy mind, and he will need help to (re)solve and close his final case.

Ian McKellen was nominated for an Academy Award for his last collaboration with director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters), and clearly the filmmaker brings something special out of the storied actor. McKellen is simply brilliant, an absolute lock for another Oscar nomination. His work on the picture is really multiple performances, as he embodies both the confident and self-assured younger Holmes in flashbacks, as well as the frustrated and stubborn older man. It is this last part that is the most compelling, as he shows incredible depth progressing through the emotions and challenges of a man coming to terms with his fading faculties and failing body. Holmes the elder is completely at peace with his own mortality, but it is the betrayal of his mind that gnaws at him and that he attempts to conceal. There is still plenty of the proud peacock about the man.

Mr. Holmes, like all stories about the character, works best if you are a Sherlockian. The film works beautifully if you know little more about Holmes than you’ve picked up from other pictures, but there is so much more meat on the bone if you’ve read the stories. The story is masterful in working in little themes from earlier works, leading to a much richer experience than may actually be covered in a 2 hour film. I don’t mean that the story is filled with Easter Eggs (although there’s one or two that are masterful) or makes the too common error of trying to specifically reference other events – it’s not gimmicky like that. It’s more just a feeling, a tone suggesting that the story is a culminating piece in a much longer tale.

Laura Linney, also a Condon vet, doesn’t have a very large role, but it is crucial and she is unsurprisingly wonderful. She is such a gifted actress and makes you feel every bit of her presence.

The star-making turn here, though, belongs to young Milo Parker, who is captivating. Roger is a fascinating character, providing motivation for both the housekeeper and Holmes, for whom he has become an eager protégé. It’s a wonderful story tool but an even more impressive performance. The audience longs to be alongside Roger as the great detective reveals both the secrets of the apiary and the science of deduction.

Mr. Holmes is an absolute delight, from the period costumes and production design, to the score from Carter Burwell, and the gorgeous cinematography by Tobias A. Schliessler. I haven’t even touched upon the truly unique visuals from post-WWII Japan to the Cliffs of Dover. Nor the lovely supporting performances of Hiroyuki Sanada and Hattie Morahan. Discover them for yourself – go see Mr. Holmes…

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Fail

The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

[schema type=”movie” url=”http://www.mrholmesfilm.com/” name=”Mr. Holmes” description=”Mr. Holmes is a new twist on the world’s most famous detective. 1947, an aging Sherlock Holmes returns from a journey to Japan, where, in search of a rare plant with powerful restorative qualities, he has witnessed the devastation of nuclear warfare. Now, in his remote seaside farmhouse, Holmes faces the end of his days tending to his bees, with only the company of his housekeeper and her young son, Roger. Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits the circumstances of the unsolved case that forced him into retirement, and searches for answers to the mysteries of life and love – before it’s too late.” director=”Bill Condon” actor_1=”Ian McKellen” ]

Main Cast	Ian McKellen Sherlock Holmes Laura Linney Mrs. Munro Hiroyuki Sanada Tamiki Umezaki Hattie Morahan Ann Kelmot
Rating	PG
Release Date	Fri 17 Jul 2015 UTC
Director	Bill Condon
Genres	Crime, Drama, Mystery
Plot	An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes looks back on his life, and grapples with an unsolved case involving a beautiful woman.
Poster
Runtime	104
Tagline	The man behind the myth
Writers	Mitch Cullin (original story) and, Mitch Cullin (novel) …
Year	2015

August 19, 2015

Trainwreck (2015)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Schumer’s unique voice is as sharp as ever & she gets to show some real heart. Too bad it’s an Apatow joint, which means it’s far too long.

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Trainwreck:

I absolutely love Amy Schumer. She is an incredible voice for change at a time when we need it. She follows a long line of comedians whose true gift lies in covertly shining a light on the injustices and prejudices of our society, disarming resistance by being pee-your-pants funny. I believe in time she will be as held in the same light as Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, or more recent comics like Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.

The Comedy Central show, Inside Amy Schumer, is a fantastic showcase for the comic, who utilizes a raunchy irreverence to great effect, though even the program suffers from the hit-or-miss nature of all sketch shows. Even so, her talent wasn’t going to be limited to the small screen, so a feature was inevitable. Sadly, she has the mixed blessing of the attention of Judd Apatow.

Look, I’m not hating on Apatow; he’s a next-level talent at crafting comedy who has more than earned his success and certainly doesn’t need or want my approval. It’s just that his stuff is so damn long. Frequent visitors to this site are surely growing tired of my screeds about run-time, but I can’t help it – the length of a film has a direct relationship to the success of the picture. I can no more overlook a poorly edited feature than I could ignore poor acting.

Each Apatow directed film seems to be less funny than the previous picture, while also being longer. That’s not totally true – the run-time kept increasing sizably through Funny People but has slimmed a hair since. And it’s not completely fair to say that the films are less funny; they just feel less funny because the quality material is spread too thin.

Trainwreck may be the most blatant victim, or perhaps its merely the freshest. Because I had a great time with the picture, until I didn’t. If you had measured my laughter during the film, you’d be amazed at how blasé I was about Trainwreck on my way out of the theater. By the end, the picture made me so weary that I nearly forgot how good it was.

Like nearly every comic’s debut film, Trainwreck is a semi-autobiographical tale, filled with material from the act. While these pictures always crib from the comic’s set, the good ones rise above a simple collection of one-liners. Think The Jerk as opposed to 48 Hrs.; the former is sublime, the latter is simply a good start. Trainwreck is a success of the first variety.

Schumer stars as, well, herself, mostly. A free spirit since being instructed by her father (Colin Quinn) that monogamy is unrealistic, Amy bounces from hookup to hookup, never getting attached, in stark contrast to her married sister Kim (Brie Larson). Amy hopes to be a journalist, but has hitched her wagon to a juvenile men’s magazine, S’Nuff, run by a comically overacted Tilda Swinton. When she is assigned to do a feature on a nice-guy sports doctor, Aaron Connors (Bill Hader), her life outlook begins to change.

The leads, Schumer & Hader, are marvelous together. It’s clearly Schumer’s show, and she is non-stop fun, but Hader gets some good scenes as Bill Hader.

The cameos in the film are simply amazing, which happens when you are as hot as Schumer and Apatow. I’m not going to spoil them here, but trust me, there are some really good ones.

But the biggest praise goes to the supporting cast. The picture is nearly stolen by Colin Quinn, who is lovable in spite of playing a total jerk, leading to the films most touching moments. Yes, there are touching moments in the picture, and Schumer is actually quite moving in her scenes with her ailing father. This relationship mirrors the comedienne’s personal life, and is crucial in elevating the picture.

Now that I think about it, the picture is really nearly stolen by LeBron James, who deserves the praise he is getting for his turn as Aaron’s best friend, LeBron James. And I’m a Celtics fan, so you know I hate that guy. Well, he ruins that for me, because he is an absolute blast in Trainwreck, showing a sense of humor and charm that is completely disarming. (Chris Rock wrote some of the jokes on set.)

No, the film is really stolen by John Cena. I’d seen the wrestler in a guest appearance on Psych a few years back, so I knew he was charismatic and likable. (What sort of training do they do over at the wrestling sausage factory? Guys like Dwayne Johnson and Cena seem to know exactly how to handle themselves, putting off a sense of humor about themselves that seems never to diminish them. Impressive.) Cena bares all figuratively and literally and absolutely steals the show.

No, wait, it’s actually nearly stolen by Norman Lloyd, who at 99 is more vital than most of his co-stars.

Whatever. You get the point. There’s some great performances. And that’s what makes the film so good. It’s simply a good half an hour too long. I can’t wait to see Schumer’s next feature…